Hierapolis is the most popular archaelogical site in Turkey, with its peak of 2 million tourists in 2014 and a comparable number anticipated for 2018. In fact, most of them — largely Russians on day trips from Antalya — see only the natural features of the place: the white cascades of travertine created by thermal waters flowing downhill. The venue is better known in Turkish as Pamukkale, literally the “cotton castle,” whose light blue natural pools are featured in every tourism brochure.

They pay for both — there is no separate entrance, as the nature and history are deeply intertwined — but only a small fraction of the visitors go inside the Hellenistic and Roman ancient city, founded on a seismic fault line and hot springs by the Phrygian people. Few tourists walk the paved roads among the ruins or sit in the well-preserved theater. Fewer still are adventurous enough to climb the steep hill overlooking Pamukkale and Hierapolis — guides apparently advise against going there — where the Christian St. Philip the Apostle was killed, buried and venerated for many centuries.

The exact location of his tomb was revealed in 2011 by Francesco D'Andria, who recently retired from directing the Italian archaelogical mission for 15 years after 25 as team member. He talked to Al-Monitor about his experiences excavating and studying the site with an international and interdisciplinary team, restoring its monuments, opening it up to visitors and offering solutions to neutralize the worst effects of mass tourism. Thick volumes published by Ege Publishing House document them in detail.

Hierapolis/Pamukkale, a spectacular combination of man-made and natural wonders, was added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1988. Only after that date did the Turkish government start protecting it. Five spa hotels operating along the edge of the pools were demolished, the archaelogical area fenced off and closed to buses and private cars. “It may sound absurd today, but in the 90s traffic along the funerary monuments of the northern necropolis reminded me of Istanbul at rush hour," D'Andria told Al-Monitor.